There is medication available that may help with some kinds of urinary incontinence. Estrogen cream, applied topically to the vagina, may be useful for some women with incontinence caused by physical exertion. There is a range of other medications available for those who don’t want to resort to incontinence pads.
For men, medication can be used to reduce the size of the prostate if this is affecting urinary flow. A medical professional should be consulted to determine the best treatment option.
If medication is not sufficient to treat incontinence, there are surgical options. This might be used for women experiencing stress incontinence and men who have problems related to their prostate.
Surgery is done to return the bladder to the correct position. For women, this surgery can be done either through the vagina or through the abdominal wall. A recent clinical study comparing anterior vaginal repair with open abdominal retropubic suspension found that operating through the abdominal wall was more effective, with patients undergoing this surgery having a 1 in 5 chance of failure in the years following the surgery, compared to 1 in 3 having undergone vaginal repair.
Common treatment options for men include:
- Injection therapy. This can be done as an outpatient, or in a doctors surgery. The technique involves injecting a material to help with closure of the urethra. This is minimally invasive.
- Sling procedure. This procedure also puts pressure on the urethra to help control flow. A device is surgically implanted.
- Artificial urinary sphincter. For more severe incontinence, a device can be implanted which is manually operated. A pump is implanted into the scrotum, which is operated to allow the urethra to open and allow urination.